page_title: Castle of Abrantes
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Castle of Abrantes / Architecture
context_page_description: The Castle of Abrantes overlooks the city of Abrantes, in the municipality of Abrantes in the district of Santarém, Ribatejo, divided between the two civil parishes of São João and São Vicente. It was part of the Reconquista fortifications that made up the Linha do Tejo, a line of castles and outposts during the Middle Ages, recently integrated into a tourist region called the Região de Turismo dos Templários.
context_section_description: The Castle has an imposing position on the right margin of the Tagus River, surmounting a hilltop overlooking the town and local landscape. It is a characteristic hilltop fortification, located on a 197-metre high plateau dominating the town, designed to take advantage of the steep incline of the northeast escarpment. The southern, southeastern and eastern portions of the castle are reinforced by bastions and curtain walls. In addition to the isolated detention and block (in the centre of the grounds), the eastern end of the castle are dominated by the Paços do Marquis, Paços dos Condes and the church of the Santa Maria do Castelo.
  The military fort, like other medieval forts, was the centre of power and refuge in case of attack; the community lived outside the walls, in the almedina, a space that includes the two major churches of São Vicente and São João.
  The castle is constructed from masonry rock in an irregular polygonal form surmounting a rocky cliff face with steep vertical walls. Originally of Romanesque architecture, it took on aspects of Gothic architecture through successive additions, remodelling and rebuilding after the 13th century. The only remnants of the austere medieval castle are the detention block, the weapons portico (on the north-east angle) and the parapet for lookouts that commanded panoramic views of the region.
  The rectangular detention block in the middle of the castle commons originally had three levels, but the two upper levels were destroyed in the 1531 earthquake. Remodelling completed in the 19th century took from the character of the façade.
  The first line of walls are reinforced by cylindrical towers and interrupted by vertical openings. The castle's bastions, completed in the 18th century, are distributed around the older part of the settlement of Abrantes.
  The old military square, and on the western extent of the castle, are the ruins of the old Paço dos Condes de Abrantes(English: Residence of the Counts of Abrantes). Begun in 1530, by the sheriff of the vila, Diogo Fernandes de Almeida, it was designed to take advantage of the wall to reinforce the structure. The Paços, marked by grandiose architectural elements in the Baroque style, was substantially modified in the 18th century by the first Marquis of Abrantes, Rodrigo Anes de Sá Almeida e Menezes. Of these elements the loggia, consisting of an arcade of 11 perfect spans, aligned symmetrically on two cylindrical tiers, are the most distinctive part of the Abrantes complex.
  In the interior, the Church of Santa Maria do Castelo, in the Gothic style has been converted into a museum exhibiting a collection of Roman sculpture, funerary artefacts from the 15th and 16th century, as well as azulejos.
caption: Interior altar of the small church of Santa Maria do Castelo
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